The Tempe Police Department Citizen Survey is designed to collect information related to such issues as the citizens’ satisfaction with the Police Department, fear of crime, important neighborhood concerns and perceived safety in Tempe. These annual telephone surveys have been implemented by the Crime Analysis Unit since 1994 and have provided valuable feedback for both the administrative and operational sections of the department.

With the assistance of Arizona State University students, the 2002 Citizen Survey was administered during a two-week period in October. More than 5,000 phone calls were made and 1,031 citizens were contacted. Of those contacted, 402 agreed to complete the survey (a return rate of 39%).

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General Demographics:

Fifty-one percent of the survey respondents were women, 80% rented their home, 72% did not have children under the age of 18 living in their home and 56% did not work in Tempe. The average age of the citizens surveyed was twenty-five years and the average length of time that they had lived in Tempe was three years. The majority of the respondents were white (73%) while 13% were Hispanic, 4% Asian, 6% black, 3% Native American and 1% “Other” or not given. Forty-five percent reported being a student at a university, college or vocational school.

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Satisfaction with Police:

Sixty-five percent reported having had contact with a Tempe Police officer. The most common reasons for these contacts included traffic stops, reporting of a crime and general or non-specific contact. When asked to grade the officer(s) with whom they came into contact, 58% gave the officer(s) an “A”, 24% gave a “B”, 10% gave a “C”, and 8% gave either a “D” or “F”. Ninety-four percent of the respondents said that the Tempe Police Department fairly enforces the law “some”, “most”, or “all” of the time. Furthermore, 79% said that the amount of police patrol in their neighborhood meets or exceeds their expectations.

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Victimization and Fear of Crime:

While 50% of the respondents reported being the victim of crime at some point in their life, 33% said that they had been victimized in Tempe. The most common types of victimization included theft, burglary from vehicle and criminal damage. With regards to the overall safety of their neighborhood, 49% gave an eight or above on the standard one-to-ten scale (with one being low and ten being high). The most common concerns surrounding the citizens’ neighborhoods included traffic, lighting and vehicle security. Sixty-nine percent of the respondents felt that their chances of being victimized in Tempe were low or non-existent. This proportion is consistent with findings from the three previous annual surveys in which 68%, 67%, and 67% of the respondents (respectively) reported a very low or non-existent likelihood of victimization in Tempe. Only 16% reported having not gone somewhere in Tempe because they thought it would be unsafe. The most frequent locations of concern to these respondents include the downtown area, the Arizona Mills Mall and Tempe parks.

National polls have found that the person who is most likely to be fearful of crime is an older non-white woman without a high school diploma living in an urban area in the South. The person least likely to be afraid of crime is a middle-aged white man with a college degree living in a rural area of the Midwest. Given the demographic characteristics captured by the citizen survey, the person most fearful of crime in Tempe is a 19-26 year old white woman who is a college student that rents her home, has no children and has previously been the victim of a crime. The person least fearful of being victimized in Tempe is a 20-29 year old white man with a college degree that rents his home, has no children and has never been the victim of a crime.

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Community Involvement

The most basic level of community involvement is the interaction among neighbors. Seventy-eight percent of the survey respondents reported knowing their neighbors on more than a limited basis. Only 10% said that they felt their neighbors would not help them if they needed assistance.

When asked how well they knew the officers who work in their neighborhood, 88% of the respondents said that they did not know these officers at all. Only 9% knew the officers by their faces and 3% knew the officer’s names. Thirty percent of the respondents reported an interest in meeting with their neighborhood officers if given the opportunity.

Just over 11% of the citizens surveyed were members of a crime watch organization in their neighborhood. Thirty percent of the respondents expressed an interest in joining such an organization if one was formed in their area. It should be noted that the Crime Analysis Unit and the student interviewers provided contact information for the Tempe Police Crime Prevention Unit to a number of citizens who were interested in receiving information about starting a neighborhood crime watch program.

Of the citizens surveyed, only 13% stated that they were familiar with the concept of civilian review. When told about the existence of the Tempe Citizens’ Panel for the Review of Police Complaints and Use of Force, 83% support the civilian review process and 34% reported an increased confidence in the Tempe Police Department after finding out that a civilian review panel was being utilized.